Sweet Cheeks Bakery(Open!)

[Chiyo]

As the sun rose over Sunagakure, a pair of housecats were having a ferocious battle within the confines of a small, carefully decorated, living room space in a tiny apartment. The brawl was incredibly intense and had already been raging for several hours before sunrise. It was surprising that the pair hadn't woken their human companion who was sleeping in a small bedroom just 15 feet away.

For a while, the younger cat - a small, ginger tabby with a tail that looked like it had been broken once before and healed incorrectly - had been keeping his elder - an old, fluffy grey tom cat with a large white spot on his underside - on the ropes, though any experienced shinobi would have been able to tell that the grizzled old cat was barely even trying. Really the match-up was quite entertaining, for each time the kitten would start to push a little more, his mentor would push back, resulting in the fight becoming ever more intense as it went on.

However, once the sun had fully risen, throwing golden streaks of light into the apartment, their companion had begun to stir in her bed. It was very nearly time for her to wake, but the skirmish waged on until the girl finally climbed out of bed and headed down the hall into the living room.

Pink hair, disheveled in a way that told of her sleeping habits, Kyarako rubbed her teal-colored eyes as she looked at her feline companions with a sleepy little smile on her round face. "Good morning, boys, did you get any sleep?" The woman was looking down at the pair of cats who were simply sitting there, about 3 feet apart, simply staring at each other for a moment before the elder cat looked up at his companion with a grin and the youth fell to the side, apparently "asleep."

Still standing, and looking more than a little smug, Kedama walked over to Kya and curled himself around her ankles, "Apparently not enough." The old cat sounded like an old Scotsman when he spoke, lending his words a bit of a lisp. "Today'sh the big day, are you ready?" he asked, jumping onto a table next to the woman and sitting with a straight back.

"Yes," she exclaimed, a wide, excited smile on her face. "I prepped everything last night, I just need to toss a few things in the oven to get the bakery smelling delicious and sweet." Even with her hair like a rat's nest, and a fair amount of red lines from her sheets covering her body, Kya looked like she was ready to face the day. Her smile held an easy confidence that bled into the way she carried her full-figured body, all swinging hips and bouncing walk.

Looking over at Shoga with a little shake of her head, the woman spoke "Poor kid, he always tires himself out running around all night." Her voice was low in pitch, but quite bubbly in the way she spoke, each word carrying the smile that she wore on her face. Reaching down, the baker picked up the shinobi cat and cuddled him to her chest, careful not to smother him. The tom cat's expression switched quickly from his smug little smile to one of resigned annoyance, even emitting a small sigh as he allowed his friend to cuddle him in her arms as she went into the restroom to shower and get ready.

The grey feline had all but raised the pink-haired woman, and was quite used to being in the bathroom with her while she did her morning routine, so it wasn't at all strange as she stripped down and got into the shower. Kedama was quite familiar with how long she could take in the shower, so he climbed up onto the fluffy, purple toilet cover and curled up, listening to his comrade sing some silly pop song as he allowed himself to take a nap. Soon enough the bathroom was steamy and smelled strongly of flowery soaps and the voluptuous woman stepped out of the shower and continued with her morning routine, the fluffy shinobi following her dancing steps around the house as she dressed.

Once she was fully ready to start the day, about an hour later, she stopped in front of the cat she considered her best friend and did a little twirl. Her pale blue, polka-dotted skirt flared around her hips as she did so, baring more of her purple legging-covered legs. Her ample chest bounced joyfully in the snug purple blouse she had paired with the outfit, threatening to jump free as she giggled excitedly. Kedama frowned a little, he was extremely protective of the girl, and worried that her naivety would put her in an unnecessary amount of danger, but he forced a smile on his face and nodded. "You look lovely, my dear." After all, between his skill and the ginger's growing talent, there wasn't much trouble that they couldn't, and hadn't, kept her out of.

Not a moment later, the smaller, ginger kitten came bounding into the bedroom and jumped right onto the bed to look critically at Kya before meowing loudly with a cheerful tone. His teacher rolled his eyes and shook his head before translating the kitten's response with a resigned tone. "He says you look nice, too." The obviously toned down response drew a glare and an annoyed hiss out of Shoga, causing his elder to look sternly at him, "Well, learn to speak like the rest of us."

Kyarako shook her head, reaching down to pick up the smaller of the pair, who happily curled up in her arms, playing idly with the end of her pink braid. Kedama hopped down off of the dresser where he had been seated and followed their human companion as she headed downstairs into her newly remodeled bakery, her smile threatening to break out of her face as she turned on the lights of her beautiful, industrial kitchen. All of the appliances and cabinets were covered in the same white panels, paired with periwinkle walls and light grey granite counter tops, giving the large room a cozy feeling.

The baker moved around the kitchen gracefully, first turning on a stereo that popped to life and began to play an upbeat love song which injected some extra bounce into her already dancing footwork as the appliances came to life around her. It didn't take her long to get the huge industrial oven going with all of the cookies, pies, and pastries that she had saved to be cooked the morning of her re-opening and they quickly made the entire building smell heavenly. Once everything in the kitchen was ready and going, Kya opened the door to the front room of her bakery, smiling at the pale lavender walls that accented the white display cabinets that held all manner of sweets, from intricately decorated cakes to simple cookies, and of course, there were a selection of gourmet sweets from uniquely filled macaroons to perfectly layered torte and light, whipped mousse in all sorts of flavors.

Still dancing to the music that was being piped into the front room via speakers in the ceiling, the woman moved around, tidying up the area and doing a final check that everything was in its place before she moved back into the kitchen to pull the freshly baked goods out of the oven. The pies and pastries were placed in the warming cabinet so she had a few fresh items ready, but the cookies, as soon as they had cooled, she began to put them onto plates, taking special care, as she planned to give them out as samples and she wanted the presentation perfect. Soon enough she had a perfectly placed pyramid of exquisite cookies that were made from a recipe of her own creation on a brightly colored platter, which she brought into the front room and set them down in a prominent spot on the counter next to a small sign that read, Try a few!

Once she was satisfied that she was ready to open, the brightly dressed woman put her pink apron over her clothes and unlocked the front door around mid-morning. Taking a moment, she propped it open to allow the delicious smells to permeate the street that ran in front of her shop, smiling and waving to the other shop keepers around who had begun to sniff hopefully in her direction. "Good morning! she said cheerfully as she added the final touch to the front of her shop, a small sandwich board with a white wooden frame around a black chalkboard with colorful wording written in attractive, loopy handwriting.

Sweet Cheeks Bakery
Grand Re-Opening!
- Come try a sample -

Now taking orders for
*CUSTOM*
Decorated Cakes​

<i></i>

[MFT]

 

[Toraono Michino]

The mixed smells of breakfast and lunch mingled through the air and attracted people of all kinds into the Bazaar. Despite the heat of the day it was a great period to be in the shopping district as the best foods were sold at their freshest and the selection was far wider. People crowded at certain popular stores and booths, shouting out orders of food and making it difficult to maneuver through the streets at all. Yet one man seemed to walk through every single crowd with such guided accuracy it was near impossible to detect him from the rest of the crowd. He was wearing a loose, baggy sleeved, open chest shirt tucked into pants that seemed to be of the same manner. A slightly sand-tan hooded cloak was pulled up to mask his features and keep the every increasing heat of the sun to allow him to sweat. His calf-length leather boots quietly walked on the brick/sand road that wound through the market without a sound and everyone generally seemed to pay him little regard; save the ANBU who kept an eye on the parts. The shinobi keeping themselves as unnoticed as the assassin that walked through their marketplace were already aware of his presence though not his reasons for being here.

　　Uzumoreru Toushin didn’t live in Suna. He had long left the village aftera scientist named Ryuu Tama destroyed his traitorous clan. His only lover chose the father of the his child’s sibling. The story behind the boy’s birth was long and sordid and he hoped it never came to light for as long as his son lived. After all the destruction had been wrought on everything he knew the assassin decided to take his child and the few belongings left to him and leave the shinobi village. It came at a deep cost but Uzu was able to take his child and move themselves to the port town of Soon. Away from all the shinobi politics and the eternal inner strife of Suna, the assassin spent the last four years happily with his son. Not all of it was spent in the trade port, though, and despite the crippling weakness Tama had placed upon him years ago the silver haired bandit had managed to learn a new arrange of skills that kept him well protected.
Of course his history with the scientist was known. The ANBU were there to keep an eye on the man and make sure he didn’t attempt to contact the scientist and get his powers and certain memories back. Part of the stipulation of his removal from the Sunan enviroment was taking away certain secrets he knew from just living in the cave. The other was the complete removal of the Chakra Ball Technique from his body which made it so he couldn’t manipulate chakra. Tama was the one to place the seal on his brain that specifically blocked the knowledge of these two things and if Uzu wanted them back he would hae to contact the scientist; although it wasn’t likely as the two generally hated each other.

　　Toushin’s purpose here wasn’t of anything to do with getting some old power back. He had traveled the sandy, caravan beaten path from Soon in order to get a gift for his son. It was nearing the boy’s third birthday and a little side work that the father would pick up from time-to-time to pay bills was going to keep him away from actually gifting the treat on his true birthday. He would eventually need to procure the services of a sitter to keep an eye on the child while he was out on this day but that was a worry for later. For the moment all that was on Uzu’s to do list was get his son a cake.
The assassin had done his research on all the cake that came in through the trade port and made there in Soon but none of it seemed to compare to the treats that were imported into the city from one girl’s bakery in Suna. Naturally he could of just sent in an order to be filled but the perfectionist that was Toushin wouldn’t allow it. If he was going to do something for his child he put in one-hundred and ten percent; even if that meant traveling for hours just to get a bakery treat.

　　The assassin turned from the crowd suddenly and he seemed to disappear. The ANBU that had kept an eye on him this entire time went into a slight panic after this and quickly dispersed and began to franticly make calls to began a wide silent search for the assassin.
A smile played across his lips. He had ducked into the crowd at the last second, shortening his height with a fast crouch, and waddled over to the bakery he had been seeking. The main reason he had done this was to not bring any bad juju on the owner’s head. He had personally watched merchants Soon go out of business by accidentally openly dealing with someone who was on bad terms with the government. Of course the Merchant Princes’ ran their port in a style different from Suna but it wouldn’t shock him to see ANBU starting to chase off customers just because an infamous assassin had bought cake here once.

　　Once inside the shop he whipped off the hood and deeply inhaled the scents of the bakery as he let his face feel the chakra crystal conditioned air that cooled off his skin from the heat outside. His eyes began to slowly eye every bit of bakery and sweet that was offered to begin conducting an idea for the kind of cake to get his child.

<Topic Entered>

 

[Takahashi Aki]

"So let me get this straight."<i></i> Sousuke looked at the scene. "You've yet to move the bodies, but you've done nothing to prevent them from sinking further into this muck?"<i></i> He was outside of Suna Residences at a crime scene. He looked at the jounin and anbu who were with him at the scene. He appreciated the fact that they did not obliterate the evidence. He did not appreciate the lack of common sense. The heavy metal Kazekage sighed and stepped forward. His form going deep into the muddied scene. His form sinking into the mud. He motioned from them to throw him a rope. "Three tugs means to pull me out."<i></i> He added as he continued to sink quicker and quicker down the muddy pool.

***

Sousuke watched as the bodies were being carefully entombed. The bodies were ... corrupted. One of them had the youth taken away. One was skeletal. Just a mere skeleton which was perhaps most concerning. The final body had been... well seemingly normal. Drowned but what was the point of this? Seemed most unnecessary. The muddied armoured Kazekage watched as his fellow nin were breaking their fast with various pastries someone had brought in while he was submerged in mud. He motioned to the box. "Did you save me one... unlike the last ... seven times is it now?"<i></i> He asked politely enough. The jounin exchanged glances with Anbu who fell silent. After a long pause Sousuke had shook his head. "Eight times. This is now the eighth time you have single handedly devoured the entire contents of goods while I have been doing the metaphorical heavy lifting. This is ... ... ... getting very old."<i></i> Apolgies of the most profuse kind had followed. It was not something he was pleased with. Still though... the morning still carried with it the hope of fresh baked goods.

***

Sousuke's stroll through the bazaar finally brought him to a place of interest. The mud had dried upon his frame and as he made his way through cracks of it fell off. Sweet Cheeks. He entered the place. He looked around. Clean enough. No signs of cockroaches. Excellent. As Sousuke continued to make his observation more dried mud fell off of his metallic form. He looked down seeing the mess he had made. This was most annoying. "I'll clean this up."<i></i> He held his hand open and fired a plasma beam burning up the mud into nothingness. He marched forward to the stand noticing the older looking man present. The two had never met, but they certainly had things in common. The fact that they had both known the 'expert thief' Kitani who but all had vanished off of the face of Sungakure. Sousuke would crouch down as he looked at the goods on showcase. Sousuke wasn't sure what to do with himself. There were so many colourful goods. Best to ask what to try. "I have been in mud past my height. I had to remove three corpses from a murder scene for investigation. My co-workers ... brought a box of goods, and did not save me a single pastry, cookie, or morsel of food to try. What do you suggest?"<i></i> He asked quite bluntly. Perhaps it was far too much for the young proprietress to know, but if anything Sousuke was brutally honest. "Whatever you suggest please give me five of them."<i></i>

 

[Chiyo]

Kya had already had a busy morning and was just getting a small moment's peace before the lunch rush started in full force. The young woman was sitting on a tall stool behind the counter, her legs drawn up beneath her. She looked rather bored as she rested her chin in her hands, absently blowing a bit of hair from in front of her eyes. The elder feline was lounging on the counter beside her, his eyes almost closed as he rested, but his youthful counterpart was on the floor beneath them, waging an intense battle with a piece of ribbon.

As the gentleman entered the shop he would be greeted by a symphony of scents and the sound of more upbeat music. The cheerful atmosphere was only accented by the brightly colored walls, purple and blue checkered tile floors, and all crisp, white furnishings. To the right of the doors was a small cluster of bar-height tables and chairs for her patrons that might want to sit and eat, or for consultations for large projects. To the left and directly ahead of the entrance, a long, curved display cabinet was filled with all sorts of sweets, all expertly arranged to complement all of the different colors, and each item had its own little sign to tell guests what it was they were drooling over.

As she saw the gentleman duck into her shop, the pink-haired woman instantly perked up, hopping off her stool with a little too much energy causing her body to jiggle a little more than was generally socially acceptable, but she didn't seem to care in the least as she bounced forward with a wide smile on her face. "Hello! Welcome to Sweet Cheeks! What are you craving today?" The girl's choice of catch phrase might be a little strange to most people, but for her, sweets were always a craving. As such, clearly that was the best terminology to use every single time someone entered her shop.

The grey ball of fluff that had been practically sleeping a moment before was suddenly alert - almost as if he was poised for battle - and the expression on his face was one of intense concentration. Most people wouldn't notice, but as a shinobi with the instincts of a cat, Kedama noticed the subtle change in his human companion's body language as soon as the elder gentleman entered the shop. He had also noticed the way the man had seemed to disappear from the crowd before he entered her shop. His naive comrade clearly found the man attractive - which wasn't surprising - but the man had a menacing aura. He clearly was more dangerous than he put on, and it put the veteran on edge. Even Shoga had sensed something off about the man, and he had jumped up on the counter to sit next to his mentor.

However, the tension in the room grew thicker as a large suit of armor covered in mud entered the shop. Kya instantly forgot about the man that had entered first and jumped back, letting out a squeaky scream before throwing up her hands in fists in front of her. It only took a moment to see who it was beneath the layers of grime, however, and she was familiar enough with most of the shinobi in the village to know the Kazekage when she saw him and immediately she visibly relaxed and her customary inviting smile returned to her face, though her cheeks were almost brighter than her hair already was as she smoothed out her clothing. "I'm so sorry about that, sir! Welcome to Sweet Cheeks," she managed to get out, before he spoke and fired lasers at her newly installed tile floors. Her teal eyes widened fearfully and she brought her hands to her cheeks before she realized he was just cleaning up the dirt that he had brought in. The fluffy, grey shinobi had jumped from the back counter, onto the display cabinets and was looking about ready to attack the armored man, but the kitten had already climbed onto the kage's helmet and was fiercely attempting to bite through the metal.

Clearly the man wasn't bothered by the onslaught of cats, and moved forward, looking at the goods she had on display before requesting five of whatever the young woman suggested. "Oh! I have just the thing. I was just baking a fresh batch of blueberry and white chocolate scones, give me a moment to go pull them out of the oven!" Kya was clearly very flustered by the sudden arrival of the leader of their village, still forgetting about the other man, and skittered off back into the kitchen, her skirt swishing around her hips as she pushed through the doors.

Kedama immediately relaxed, though he was still on guard for the first gentleman. He sat back on his haunches and inclined his fluffy head toward the kage, proceeding to speak in his smooth accent. "I apologize for our less than friendly welcome, your appearance startled us - Shoga, get off of him you idiot! The small, ginger kitten immediately froze, his jaw still trying to get itself around the metal helmet, though he looked at his mentor for a moment, then down at the shiny thing below, then at his mentor again. Something resembling a meow came from his tiny body and he jumped from the helmet, to the man's shoulder, then over onto the first man's head and finally back to the countertop, where he settled down to stare at the man that had made him uneasy in the first place with what he must have imagined was a stern glare - really he just looked a little bit stupid.

[MFT]

 

[Toraono Michino]

The assassin was impressed with the amazing amount of treats and pastries that nearly seemed to line the walls. The colors exploded at him and set him in a mood of ease, which was rare for the man to have. His golden eyes turned and caught the image of the shopkeeper and his heart skipped a beat as she bounded towards him in questioning. Her beauty couldn’t be denied, nor the gift she held above other women with no doubt a leering grin, but what really caught him was the obvious naivete in her eyes. To have such a thing and live in Suna was as rare as certain types of roses that only grew on the mountain sides in the great desert. Uzu knew all too well what kind of people lived here and what all they were capable of. Part of him wanted to kidnap the girl and save her from being a cliche character in a slasher flick; the other part was incredibly surprised she hadn’t been already.

　　It was about then that he noticed the cats. Toushin wasn’t familiar with shinobi animals or their powers but pure gut instinct told him he’d be better off leaving her, and those cats, perfectly well alone. The older gray one, despite looking like he might keel over any second, gave off a certain menacing aura as it continued to stare daggers at the assassin while the little one gave off a vibe the assassin couldn’t shake. Perhaps the reason she wasn’t a horror movie write-off was because the cats maimed anything that tried; suddenly his mind was assailed by the image of Tama fighting off cats and he barely stifled a laugh.
　　The assassin stepped up to the counter ready to speak his order when the doors behind him swung open. At first he had every intention to simply pull up his hood and try to keep his face hidden while making his order but the moment he heard the sound of heavy metal clomping across the floor with the splatters of something wet plopping against the same tile he stood on, Uzu couldn’t help but turn his head a little to catch what was behind him out of his peripherals.
　　
　　The sight nearly gave him a heart attack.
　　
What was the assassin of old expecting when he went to the Sunagakure to buy some cake? Sure as hell wasn’t Sousuke the Lord Kazekage in full plate stalking up behind him. Deciding it was probably best to make his order and scram the man began to open his mouth when he felt the heat of plasma jutsu and the sounds of angry cats suddenly attacking the Kazekage. Immediately the assassin had to resist the overwhelming urge to reach under his cloak where his weapons remained holstered on the small of his back; an urge that took biting his lip until it bled to resist. Toushin really didn’t want any trouble while he was in town and had no intentions of putting himself ever higher on that bounty list by, at the very least, wounding the Kazekage. So despite his pale face and cold sweat he kept his composure as the scene unfolded.
　　He felt only slightly offended that she offer service to the village leader before him despite in both the manner and order they entered in. It only made sense that someone with a shop that was blossoming into as big as it was supposedly going to go rush off to get food for the guy who could, you know, shut down any shop in the bizarre without trying. After the kitten used his head as a hopping log to return to the side of the talking older cat, the assassin decided it would be best to just simply sit down. Quietly the assassin moved past the Kazekage and towards one of the chairs surrounding the little tables and sat down to wait patiently as he tried to wrap his head around running into both a talking cat and the Kazekage; a part of him wondered if he was dreaming.

 

[Takahashi Aki]

With a tap to the side of a pant leg a slot would open up revealing the Kazekage's wallet. He looked up and saw the price. It was at this time there was a cat upon his hat. He did not seem overly bothered by it. In time the cat came off of his head. He exchanged glances with an older, wiser, ninja cat. In fact said cat began to discuss things with him. "My patronage does that ... unfortunately."<i></i> He looked left and then right he leaned slightly forward, "What is white chocolate? It does sounds very good, but I've never had it before."<i></i> He placed the yen on the counter with a tip. "You guys just opened up. I figured that this would be the best time to try out this new store."<i></i> He looked about. It was then that Sousuke noticed that the younger cat was glaring, or trying to look at something. He turned to look at what it was.

The Kazekage's gaze was met by a man. He wasn't quite sure who this man was. Clearly the man had seen better days. The cat did jump somewhere after he was on Sousuke's head. It was then Sousuke had realized it was indeed this man. He looked at the cat, and then the man. "You..."<i></i> He would begin his sentence, his eyes glowed green and then suddenly they would change colours and begin to glow red. "You're a pirate aren't you? Are you that Sparrow Fellow who makes all the hand gestures?"<i></i> Absentmindedly the man had made a series of gestures and acted as if he had golden bangles on his arms. "My son enjoys the antics of that one Sparrow fellow."<i></i> He added, but with a pause for a moment. He tapped his chin. The eyes turned colour once again to a shade of green. "On second thought, maybe you're too old to be that Sparrow Fellow. Maybe you're one of his crewmen. He does seem to be going through alot of them."<i></i> The Kazekage tapped his fingers together. "Hrm... no. I don't think so. I do know you. Somehow. Somewhere. Hearsay."<i></i>He looked at the stranger's face. He traced his finger along the lower area of his mouth where his lips would be. "You do realize you're bleeding from the lip."<i></i> He raised his fist and allowed his index finger to point skyward. The end of it would begin to glow orange. "May want to consider doing something about that before it becomes infected."<i></i>

(MFT 419)

 

[Chiyo]

Once in the kitchen, the sounds of upbeat music began to fill the young woman's ears even more than they had from the piped speakers in the front room, effectively drowning out any sound from the front room. Immediately her steps became fluid and she twirled around the room, grabbing one of her bakery boxes and folding it into shape with a few deft movements, then sliding her oven mitts on and removing the pan of piping hot scones from the oven. The smell was heavenly, a wonderfully heady mix of tangy and sweet, and they looked even better - golden brown triangles of pastry speckled with melty white-chocolate and blueberries. Placing the pan on the island counter in the middle of the room, she pulled a spatula, a plate, and a length of bright turquoise ribbon from various spots around the room and began to package the goodies artfully in the box.

Back in the front room, Kedama sat upon the counter, his posture impeccable as he spoke to the Kazekage. "Honestly it's not just you, my human companion is quite easily excitable." His voice seemed to carry an exasperated tone, as though he would be rolling his eyes if he were human. The old feline watched the armored man lean forward, then let out a sound that was something between a meow and a chuckle, a slight smile appearing on his face, lending him the appearance of the Cheshire cat. "White chocolate - as I'm told - is slightly sweeter than the milk chocolate that is generally used in baked goods, Kya is quite fond of it. We do appreciate your patronage, sir, today is our grand re-opening, we've spent the past few months completely remodeling the place."<i></i> As he finished speaking, the grey tomcat's eyes followed Sousuke's gaze to the older gentleman that had seated himself and joined his younger counterpart in watching the man.

The pair of felines sat next to each other, silently watching the exchange between the two men, it seemed out of place for the pale haired man to look so nervous, and the trickle of blood on his lip was especially suspicious. Both tails flicked the air with nervous energy, both cats reading the situation intently. The metal-covered man made some weird gestures with his arms, causing the small ginger to raise his hackles a little, but a glance from his mentor calmed him immediately. Just then the pink-haired baker burst back into the room, her hips still swaying to the loud music in the kitchen. "Here are your scones, Sousuke-san! Fresh from the oven!"<i></i> Her voice was a bit too loud for the quiet room, and as soon as she saw that the pair of men had been conversing, she squeaked and almost dropped the carefully packed box of goodies, fumbled with it in midair for a moment, before catching it and blushing furiously. Hoping no one had noticed her moment of clumsiness, she moved from behind the counter to stand next to the Kazekage.

[MFT]

 

[Toraono Michino]

While the assassin had hoped that he wouldn’t draw any attention it just seemed that, despite his best efforts, he just wasn’t going to have a good day. He pushed with the heel of his right foot and tilted the chair back on two legs to make the back and chair cradle his back. The very act of it relaxed his lower lumbar and it allowed some of his building stress to ease up. He looked on at the Kazekage critically now, his trained eyes taking in the entire man hiding in his suit of armor. Uzu had doubts that he’d still be able to take on the man with or without the armor since the magic of chakra was lost to him. All he had was a gun with nine rounds and his wits; normally more than enough. However this was a man who ruled over what was basically a bunch of battle wizards, and honestly the assassin wanted no part of stirring that up.
　　So he decided to go with something silly.
　　Nearly as soon as the chair had been tilted up he rocked it back up and leaped out of the chair with fancy grace. The tips of his toes landed first as he rolled into a walk and swaggered up to the king of battle wizards. Uzu stopped five feet away from Sousuke abd cocked his pelvis forward while leaning back in a mix of a man prepared for an attack while trying to be as cocky as possible. He then quirked an eyebrow up while making sure to move his hands in the most dramatic way possible when he spoke,
　　“Pirate? Mate I have no idea what yer on about. Things that deal with the sea are far too...sticky. Salt and blood and wenches and....rum,” Toushin waggled his eyebrows at the Kazekage, “If you knows what I mean. I think you must have me confused with some other pretentious fae of a man, who’s only desire is to be known through the land, and- I mean, isn’t that what all of us want?” The assassin turned his attention for a second to the talking cat throwing looks at him like, ‘Hey! Back me up!’ before turning his attention back to the man in the suit as if wasn’t doing that exact thing.
　　“Of course I don’t see why it should matter if I am a pirate, and I can’t stress enough that there is no way I could be, but if I was what harm could I possibly do here? I’d be one cooked chicken if I even so much as thought of snagging something or throw about my allegedly boorish ways when I have consumed too much rum, which by the way mate is never. You bloody wizards would have me fried proper on the spot.” Toushin tilted forward to move as safely close as he possibly could to Sousuke and spoke a little lower, “So there wouldn’t be any chance that I could be a demon of the sea, savvy?” He reached up and patted what he assumed was the kaze-armor’s cheek and hopped back to see the girl entering back into the room.
　　
　　Now the reason he went so far as to possibly antagonize a man who most certainly fry him on the spot was to create the diversion. As soon as Kyarako caught his attention he ran his thumb across his lip and wiped the blood of to deftly flick it across the counter and cause her to make a slip and stumble a little. Hopefully the mixed distraction of her nearly falling and bringing in his pastries would disarm any potential dangers from the man; his only worry was the cats. Uzu had read up on how dangerous real shinobi cats were and the large older one had an air of danger about him that had him nearly on edge as the Kazekage did; just not quite as much. With the cats he at least still had his good looks and charms to use on the cute baker to paddle his way out of any danger there. Just as soon as the girl caught her balance he threw his hands up as if he was going to catch her, a basic human reaction to seeing someone starting to fall, and spoke,
　　“Oy there lass! Maybe too much rum in the spice cake this morning eh? That sounds...really good actually. Do you have any of those?”
　　
　　The look on Toushin’s face was actually filled with mock curiosity at the idea of an alcoholic cake. However if it could get him out of the danger zone faster, the better.

 

[Takahashi Aki]

Sousuke raised an eyebrow beneath his helmet. He had absolutely no clue what the supposed pirate went on about. Sousuke wondered at times if this was what it was like to be subjected to his long form discussion. The waggling of the eyebrows made Sousuke no less comfortable. "I do not ... think I am aware of what you're getting at exactly."<i></i> He would begin. "I do wish though to keep a low profile, but of course that is something difficult to do... because well, the answers are self explanatory."<i></i> The hand gestures that were being deployed did cause Sousuke to consider the concept that the man in question man in fact be that Sparrow fellow. It was likely now at this point. Sousuke would break eye contact and he would look skyward for a moment. He considered that the man in question may in fact be a wanted felon in some territories. He was after all wanted for the impersonation of being a member of some foreign faith, wanted for kidnapping some foreign dignitary's daughter, and... there was a trend here.

After some amount of time of watching the back and forth between the pirate and the cat Sousuke spoke up. ""I take offense to the term wizard. I am not a wizard. I am a tenth designate Omega Spell Blade. I have ..."<i></i> Uzu would feel something quite terrible open him. A glare. A very piercing glare coming from the Kazekage. The glare was broken up when the young baker returned with her goodies. Sousuke had taken in what the older cat had said. He reached into his shelf pockets, removed his wallet and placed down several yen bills. "Keep the change."<i></i> He would add as he attempted to put one of the scones through the helmet. Unfortunately the scone did not go through the helmet and into his mouth. This was a problem. Sousuke would remove his helmet, placed it on the table, and would attempt once more to devour the scone. Sousuke chewed and chewed. His eyes bounced from the pirate, to the elder cat, to the younger cat that had sat on his head, then back to the young baker. For a moment it seemed like Sousuke did not like his order of food. He formed seals for an object summoning and produced a silvery canister. He screwed it and poured himself a cup of steaming hot coffee. "Hrrrmmm..."<i></i> He closed his eyes and stroked his chin as he thought about the food to which he had consumed. A pout formed. "I am afraid..."<i></i> He would begin, "I am most incapable to put into the words that would convey the proper meaning of this most..."<i></i> another pause for a moment. "excellent baked good."<i></i> It was a very long form way of saying he was speechless, and that the baked treat was indeed very very good. He placed another yen bill on the table. "I will in fact take another order."<i></i>

 

[Chiyo]

[[I’m SOOOOO sorry that it took me so long to post, life and work have been super hectic and stressful lately, I promise I’m still around.]]

The elder gentleman was quite lucky that the young baker’s feline companions hadn’t noticed him flick the drop of blood that caused her to stumble, or he would have had quite a lot of explaining to do, especially with the Kazekage himself on premises. The pair had conveniently been looking over at the girl as she entered the room with the Kage’s order, and had run over to her as she stumbled to ensure her well-being. Of course, she was perfectly fine as usual; they were very used to her stumbling on a regular basis, though she very rarely actually fell – probably due to having been all but raised by a cat. Seeing that their human companion was, indeed, fine, the elder cat returned to his spot on the counter to observe the goings on in the room, while the little ginger feline took to curling around the baker’s legs affectionately.

Kya, however, had incredibly red cheeks, which darkened further as the pirate-esque fellow made a joke about her stumble and she shrank back a little, though her diminished confidence only lasted a moment before she answered the man’s question about a rum cake. “Well, I don’t have one prepared, but I could certainly make one if you would like!” Her demeanor had changed drastically in a moment, returning to the bubbly persona she always embodied. Smiling brightly as Sousuke placed the payment for his order on the counter; she nodded, and then watched expectantly as the Kage attempted to put one of the warm scones through his helmet.

The mistake made her laugh lightly as she watched him remove his helmet, though as soon as he put the warm pastry in his mouth, she went silent. Watching nervously as he tasted the scones she had made, she clasped her hands in front of her to keep them from shaking. It was very hard to discern whether he was happy with his purchase or not, and her smile was beginning to fade from her face as he pulled a thermos of coffee from thin air. The young woman waited still longer as he touched his chin and began to speak. The smile was completely gone from her face as he began, but once he finished praising her goods, an even wider smile than before had spread across her heart-shaped face and it was all she could do to keep from throwing her arms around the armored man. Instead, she jumped up and down, sending the small ginger cat running across the room, and clapped her hands excitedly.

“Yes! Yes, of course, I have more of those already prepared in the kitchen, give me just a moment,” she turned to look at the elder gentleman again, the excitement in the fact that the Kazekage enjoyed her cooking still evident on her face. “Would you like that rum cake, sir? It would be no problem to whip one up for you.”